THE WILES OF SATAN
Kathy Bernard -
Publisher
“For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12

JAMES 4:7tells us, "Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you." We,
as Christians, try hard to abstain from Satan's evil temptations
that follows us. He knows our dreams and desires and
joyfully actson them. Satan is everywhere, cloaked
in beautiful clothing, with friendly smiles that make

WE, as
Christians, try hard
to abstain from Satan's evil temptations that follows us. He
knows our dreams and desires
and
joyfully acts on them. Satan is
everywhere, cloaked in beautiful clothing, with friendly smiles that
make us forget
that he
surrounds us all, trying to steal souls.
How
does
he do this? How does he know what we want as human
beings?
How can he know our "so called' personal needs"?

SATANknows
all about us. If we let him, he will
place our greatest passions in our paths so we can
begin
to crave the things we know are wrong and sinful. If we are not strong,
he will break through our faith and tell us that God does
not want
us to enjoy the gifts Satan wants us to have. And sadly, some
of us will
surrender to his so called enticements.

MANY follow
Satan's offerings without realizing
that they
are falling into his trap. He appears to be friendly but
he attacks through
deception. We
fall for this
because he has offered us exactly what we were hoping for. This
allure comes in many forms
and
we become tempted
because we are human. Even though we think we are strong and
believe we can resist, Satan is wily and crafty, cunning and
deceitful, and he will use every ploy to steal our souls since
he knows all the secrets of our hearts, knows
our
weakness as
well as our
strengths, and he will put temptation squarely in our path and make it irresistible for he makes his offerings very enticing,
and our
desires come alive and before long we will be stretching out our
hand to Satan, finding his offer too
inviting to let go. "Just
this once" we say as we start our bargain with the devil…on his
terms. He is shrewd and cunning,
wise
and deceptive.

IT
is only later that Satan will whisper, "Why stop now? You have already become a sinner and are lost
to the Lord so you
might
as well enjoy yourself while you can!" Butthe bible tells us …. "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on
the full armor of
God, so
that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For
our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but
against
the
rulers,
against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly
realms.
Therefore put
on the full armor of God, so that when the day of
evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground,
and after you
have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your
waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and
with feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of
peace. In addition to all
this
take up the shield
of faith, with which
you can extinguish all the flaming arrows
of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation
and the
sword of the
Spirit, which is the word
of God." - Ephesians
6:10-17

SOMETIMESwe
allow Satan to draw us into sin without realizing it is a trap
he has set for us as Christians. We may
refuse
the bait at the onset, then ‘need’ settles
in full force and we give in because what he offers is
unbelievable
and we think
we
must
have it. Surely we are entitled. We want
it! We reason we can follow God’s decrees later. No hurry on
that. In our
weakness,
we reach for Satan’s hand as we fall into our sins.

PAUL tells us in Eph.6:11: "Christians
are to stand firm against “the devil’s schemes."
We know Satan cannot harm us
physically. He has no control over us as believing
Christians. Satan fell from grace because of his
insatiable desire for
prominence. He wanted the power God has but he will never get
it.
And he cannot steal God's love nor ours if we live our
lives as
Christians and avoid earthy temptations. He spreads sin to
those who are weak so they can fall prey to his wiles,
attacking and
filling minds with beautiful offers. Yes, he wants to win our souls
and though we cannot always see his tricks,
and he will take us with him to
Hell forever. But he will never win as long as we stay
close to Jesus Who paid the price of
eternal life for all who
follow Him to
eternal life.

THEREis a way
to escape from Satan's deceitful temptation. Read 1 CORINTHIANS
10:13: “No temptation has over -
taken
you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are
able, but with the temptation He will also
make the way of
escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

ANDso, when Satan stands before you, holding temptations that are wrapped in
beautiful, exquisite coverings, or whispering
sweet
desires that God expressly forbids yet the world clamors
insistently for, remember James 4:7 “Subject yourselves
therefore
to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

DO not turn your backs from God's path to
eternal life. Let
the Holy Spirit guide you on the road to God's promised forever
Heaven. Do not allow Satan to rule you with sinful lies
and promises. Always remember, He is trying to win your souls and
take
you to everlasting Hell where those who follow him in sin will burn
in a pit of fire forever more.

ALWAYS
remember, we must depend on God's Amazing Grace. God will
pick us up from Satan's deceitful sin because He loves us so much that He sent His Only Son to die for you and
for me.
Will you accept this? With His Amazing Grace, He
wants you
to
accept that love. He wants us to be strong, pick our
selves up and continue running; running forward where
Jesus
Christ
stands waiting, holding out His Loving and precious Hand to take
you and I and all those who truly love Him to eternal
Heaven
one
glorious day. We will
live in
forever glory without end. Thanks be to God
Who offers each one
of us His Amazing Grace.

KEEP growing strong as you stay on the path to eternal life!!

PRAYERKathy Bernard - Publisher

Heavenly Father, keep me focused on your path of righteousness.
Do not let me linger before Satan’s wiles.
Sometimes I grow weak and I need your help to turn my back
against his trickery. Help me to be mindful
that he wants to steal my soul, offering temptations that will
take me away from You. He is cunning and
wants to separate me from You forever. Keep my eyes open to
see that these allures will cost me eternity,
and will lead me into hell and damnation with him.
Thank You for loving me, dear God, even if I stray into his
sin. I thank You for calling me back to
You through Your Holy Spirit because I know You stand waiting
for me to return contritely to
Your loving arms. Stay close to me, please Lord, and do not let
me stumble. Give me
the courage and the strength to avoid sin and just walk away. I
ask all this
in the mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. AMEN!